China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, Type 003, to date is close to completion and will soon be launched. The third aircraft carrier was earlier scheduled to be launched on the occasion of Dragon Boat Festival, which is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth Chinese lunar month every year, on 3 June.
What is the Type 003 aircraft carrier?
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) currently operates two aircraft carriers, including the Liaoning, or Type 001 carrier, and the first domestically-built carrier, Shandong (Type 002) carrier.
The Type 003 is the third and largest warship ever constructed in China.
The latest aircraft carrier is seen as an important step for Beijing in its efforts to become a global superpower. The soon-to-be-launched carrier is reported to displace between 85,000 and 100,000 tons, and the hull is approximately 300 meters in length, while the flight deck could have a width of 78 meters.
The ship would be far longer and much wider than its predecessors.
In addition to being the largest of its three carriers, the new Type 003 class is fitted with a catapult launch system that will “enable it to support additional fighter aircraft, fixed-wing early-warning aircraft, and more rapid flight operations and thus extend the reach and effectiveness of its carrier-based strike aircraft,” the U.S. Defense Department said in its annual report to Congress on China’s military in November.
China's existing carriers weigh in at about half the size of the U.S. Nimitz class flattops and displace about 100,000 tons fully loaded.
Why is it being delayed?
It was previously speculated that the carrier would be launched on 23 April, which marked the 73rd anniversary of the PLAN, but it was delayed due to a COVID outbreak in Shanghai.
Later scheduled for launch on 3 June, the carrier was again delayed due to probable technical issues hampering its construction.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), China’s Maritime Safety Administration had issued a notice last week for the launch of “five commercial vessels” to create extra space in the shipyard in Shanghai where the aircraft carrier was being constructed.
In the satellite images acquired by The Associated Press, the carrier’s deck can be clearly seen. In an image taken Tuesday through wispy clouds, equipment behind the carrier appears to have been removed, a step toward flooding the entire drydock and floating the vessel. Pictures earlier this month showed work ongoing.
However, the SCMP report, which cited anonymous sources “close to the Chinese military”, highlighted the possibility of “technical problems related to the next phase” of the construction of the Type 003.
Experts from the Washington-based CSIS, which has been monitoring the construction for years, said in an analysis Thursday of different satellite images by Maxar Technologies, also taken Tuesday, that a smaller vessel had been moved out of the carrier's way, and that water now partially fills some of the dry dock.
But, they said, more work still needed to be done before the vessel could leave the dock.
“The staircases that workers use to access the carrier — as well as the support structures and other equipment that skirt the ship — will need to be removed,” CSIS said. “The caisson, which segments the dry dock and allows work to proceed simultaneously on multiple vessels, will also be opened to allow water to fill the entire dry dock.”
With inputs from agencies
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from Explained: What is Type 003, China’s largest-ever aircraft carrier, and why is it delayed?
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